Monday, December 14, 2009

Repeat sex offender jailed for false report

Interesting, we don't see the usual line about how false report of rape will deter other victims from coming forward. In this case, it appears to be an after the fact case of regret. I am surprised that county prosecutors didn't push for him to serve his suspended sentence.

Jonathan Perfetto, the repeat sex offender who lived a short time in a Concord parking garage after leaving prison last year, is back behind bars.

But it's not for a new crime or a sex offense. Perfetto was recently sentenced to a year in jail for a false accusation he made while still in prison.

Perfetto, 36, pleaded guilty Nov. 16 to a misdemeanor count of false report for accusing his former cellmate of sexually assaulting him then saying later that the sex had been consensual, according to court records.

A year imprisonment is the maximum sentence allowed, and it's longer than many defendants in similar cases have received in New Hampshire courts. But Perfetto could have faced more time had county prosecutors asked that a 14- to 28-year suspended sentence on child pornography convictions be called forward.

Prosecutor Ryan McFarland, who prosecuted Perfetto on the false report charge, declined to comment on the case. Public defender Sarah Rothman, who represented Perfetto, said she could not comment until after she had gotten Perfetto's permission.

Perfetto is at the Hillsborough County jail and could not be reached this week.

State police Trooper Jeffrey Ladieu investigated Perfetto's rape accusation and brought the false report charge against him. Ladieu said the investigation was intensive and took not only a lot of his time but also the time of prison officials.

He said he never determined why Perfetto gave conflicting accounts.

Perfetto made the false sexual assault claim days before he was to be released in October 2008 and a month after the alleged sexual activity had occurred.

Nothing in the court file explained Perfetto's initial report or his revised version.

Perfetto made headlines when he finished his seven-year prison sentence for possession of child pornography in October 2008 and began sleeping in the city parking garage.

Perfetto, who had previously served time for sexually assaulting women, wasn't on parole because he had served his entire sentence on the child pornography charges.

He alarmed the local police and the community when he said publicly that he most feared reoffending while living without the supervision of a parole officer.

But Perfetto soon moved to a Manchester apartment, began Bible study, met with a counselor and attended Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings. In occasional phone calls to a reporter, Perfetto said he thought he was successfully adjusting to freedom.

He remained arrest free until the state police brought the false report charge this spring.

According to Ladieu's arrest warrant, Perfetto accused his cellmate of rape Oct. 17, 2008 - just days before he was to be released from prison. He said he'd been sexually assaulted the month before, according to the affidavit.

Ladieu reviewed Perfetto's written claims and reports from prison officials before he interviewed Perfetto in January.

During that interview, Perfetto said he was a "sex addict" and "that a part of him had very much enjoyed participating in the sexual activity" with his cellmate, according to the affidavit.

And contrary to what he'd claimed earlier, Perfetto said his cellmate never threatened him into the sexual activity. He apologized to Ladieu and another officer at the interview for "wasting our time," Ladieu wrote in his arrest affidavit.